“Beast” Asteroid Earth Flyby on Sunday

Author: newsroom

Asteroid 2014 KH39 is a house-size space rock that was first discovered on May 24th

The newly discovered asteroid 2014 KH39 will pass Earth just outside the orbit of the moon today (June 3) and you can watch it live online courtesy of the Virtual Telescope Project. The webcast will begin at 3:45 p.m. EDT (1945 GMT) and be visible in the window below:

Asteroid 2014 KH39 is a house-size space rock that was first discovered on May 24. The asteroid is about 64 feet (19.5 meters) across and will come within 1.1 times the distance between the Earth and moon, according to officials with NASA’s Asteroid Watch program. The average Earth-moon distance is about 239,000 miles (385,000 kilometers).

Today’s Virtual Telescope webcast will be hosted by Italian astrophyscist Gianluca Masi and feature views from a remotely operated telescope. The asteroid should appear as a bright dot moving across the blackness of space. You can also follow the webcast directly at: http://www.virtualtelescope.eu/webtv/